The giant squid is a deep ocean dweller that can handle the extreme pressures that the ocean can impose at those depths; with that being said, you don’t typically see them too often in the shallower waters where they’re more likely to be spotted and hunted by animals, or even humans.
On the flip side however, a recently-shared video has gone viral on the Internet over the Christmas holiday that shows a giant squid swimming in shallow waters off of the West-side coast of Japan on Christmas Eve day.
The video was recorded by a diver who goes by the name of Akinobu Kimura. The diver recalls being teased by the squid’s tentacles as if the squid wanted to grab hold of the diver, and recalls seeing the squid ‘spurting ink.’ You can watch the video in its entirety below:
The squid was just over 12 feet long, which is relatively small for a giant squid despite still being rather huge. An adult squid can grow well over 40 feet.
"My curiosity was way bigger than fear, so I jumped into the water and go close to it," Kimura told CNN in a statement. "This squid was not damaged and looked lively, spurting ink and trying to entangle his tentacles around me. I guided the squid toward to the ocean, several hundred meters from the area it was found in, and it disappeared into the deep sea."
The giant squid was very close to the water’s surface and reportedly wandered around in the Toyama Bay for hours before it was later led out into more open waters, away from boats, divers, and swimmers.
It’s unknown why the giant squid decided to wander off from its natural habitat to explore the shallow water regions off the coast of Japan, but the sight was almost certainly worth the dive for the diver.
Source: CNN
